Ian Wright has criticised England and the other teams at the World Cup for their decision to bow under pressure from FIFA and renege on a promise to wear the OneLove armband.
Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and captains of England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark were due to wear the armbands in support of the LGBTQ+ community. But they announced in a joint statement on Monday that the idea had been dropped due to pressure from FIFA, who warned the players would be booked.
Former England international Alex Scott decided to defy FIFA by wearing the armband live on BBC One ahead of England’s opening game against Iran. Meanwhile, a Danish journalist was stopped from filming by Qatari police and asked to take his armband off.
The issue remains a hot topic of conversation, with Belgium star Jan Vertonghen saying players feel “controlled” by FIFA. Former England striker Wright believes players, including Harry Kane, should have worn the armband and dealt with the consequences, rather than bowing to threats of yellow cards.
“No protest without risk, if you’re going to protest there’s some risk in it,” he said on ITV ’s coverage of Germany vs Japan on Wednesday. “I get the vibe from them, the Danes, [talking about] suing FIFA and all this other stuff…
“It’s like when you have a fight with someone and the fights broken up and you want to fight - it’s done. It’s ridiculous, are we going to sue them? For what? Wear the armband, take the consequences.”
Roy Keane then gave his point of view. “What players should do, sometimes when they put a challenge down, it should make you more determined to do it because you know they’re upset by it,” he added. “If you're going to protest it you’re going to upset some people, go do it.”
Wright feels that the sight of Kane and other prominent figures getting booked for supporting the LGBTQ+ community would have enhanced the power of the message.
“It would have been such a powerful protest,” he said. “The LGBTQ community will all see they’ve actually put something on the line like they do everyday of their lives.”
Rather than wear the OneLove armband in their opening match against Japan on Wednesday, Germany’s players covered their mouths during the pre-match photo in protest against FIFA.
The German FA then tweeted: "We wanted to use our captain’s armband to take a stand for values that we hold in the Germany national team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other nations, we wanted our voice to be heard.
"It wasn't about making a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable. That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important to us. Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice. We stand by our position.”
